1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to network equipment deployed in the physical plant and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for remotely interfacing a network device in the physical plant.
2. Description of the Related Art
Data communication networks may include various computers, servers, nodes, routers, switches, hubs, proxies, and other devices coupled to and configured to pass data to one another. These devices will be referred to herein as “network devices.” Data is communicated through the data communication network by passing data packets (or cells, frames, or segments) between the network devices by utilizing one or more communication links. A particular packet may be handled by multiple network devices and cross multiple communication links as it travels between its source and its destination over the network.
Many individual subscribers access the public communications network over twisted wire pair subscriber loops that terminate at a central office. Different levels of service may be provisioned over subscriber loops, such as standard telephone service or higher speed data services. One example of a high speed data service is referred to herein as Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) service. There are many types of DSL service that may be utilized to communicate between the central office and subscribers and the invention discussed herein is not limited to any particular type of DSL service.
Conventionally, electrical equipment has been deployed at the central office in a controlled environment to interface with subscribers over subscriber loops. For example, a DSL Access Multiplexer (DSLAM) may be used to interface between multiple DSL-provisioned subscriber loops and the high bandwidth transmission capabilities on the backbone of the communications network. Typically, only relatively simple electrical equipment, such as signal repeaters, have been deployed outside the central office between the central office and the subscribers. The area outside of the environmentally controlled central office will be referred to herein as the “physical plant.” Equipment deployed in the physical plant may be deployed in areas such as on a telephone pole, in a manhole, curbside on a platform, or on aerial wires between telephone poles.
Technical limitations associated with DSL may prevent a service provider from providing DSL service to a subscriber residing more than a predetermined distance from the central office. Additionally, the bandwidth available to a DSL subscriber is generally related to the length of the subscriber loop over which DSL service is to be provided. One proposal to enable larger numbers of customers to subscribe to higher bandwidth DSL services is to deploy active electronic equipment, such as a DSLAM, in the physical plant. Deploying a DSLAM in the physical plant enables the distance between the subscriber and the DSLAM to be reduced, thus increasing the number of customers that may be provisioned with DSL services and increasing the bandwidth that may be provided to existing DSL subscribers.
Deploying active equipment in the physical plant, however, requires the equipment to be maintained and upgraded in the physical plant. Often maintenance and repairs may be effected through the network remotely. However, in particular instances it is advisable or necessary to send a technician out into the physical plant to service the network device. Unfortunately,. device placement and weather conditions may make it difficult or uncomfortable to access the network device in the physical plant.
Where there is a problem on the optical link connecting the active equipment in the physical plant and the central office, it is also desirable to isolate the problem to be able to dispatch a technician to the proper location outside the central office. It would be advantageous, in these situations, to enable the active equipment in the physical plant to participate in evaluation of the fiber. Additionally, it would be advantageous, in these circumstances, to enable emergency services to be provided until the problem in the optical link is able to be resolved.